Automotive trailer hitch



1952 R. H. ISAMDAVHL AUTOMOTIVE TRAILER HITCH 2 SHEETS--SHEET 1 FiledJune 7; 1949 (Ittorneg,

Oct. 21, 1952 SAMDAHL 2,614,860

I AUTQMOTIVE TRAILER HITCH Filed June 7, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 14 Q vZSnventor N N L E0515 {Awe/4H1.

- 233 m, MM. r 4M (Utornegs -=completed latch operation. V? Figure '5is'a section on line 5 of Fig.i3,

Patented Oct. 21, 1952 I w me NT OFFICE ,nusfsellgnis tghl, Black RiverFalls, Wis. .s pucafiqn mne 7, ie'mgserisltNo. 97,600;

1 *My invention a relates.-tozimprovementslinr auto- 'motivetrailerlhitches; "The I object of my invention Luis .IlIO rap'rovide -wahitch -for *attachment between the :reai xportion -of the 'automotivevehicle and t-a trailed fl'oad A further object of my inventionis- 'toprovide a trailer hitch attachment "for the :rear l bumper --cr otherrearward structural member ofz=an auto- -=motive vehicle, which:attachmentrmay remain in attached but folded position even :thoughamylatitachment provides lengthy towing connections;

*Another object of my invention. is to provide a= trailer hitch whichmay support asgwvell as provide draft= attachment to a-loadconvenientlystowable braces being included in :my hitchfl *installed upon the bumperof anautomobile 'and attachedto the stern'of-arowboat, the bumper beingfragmentarily shown with' a portioninnsection and the stern of the'rowboat being a 'fragmentary view. 7

Figure 2 isa perspective of my trailer 'hitchlin fol'ded position upon a1 fragmentary section of an automotive bumper.

Figure 3 is a plan view of my hitchone tractor arm and its latch andbrace being.shoivn' in' extended position and the othertractor arm,latch and brace being shown 'in'folded position-firagment of a bumperbeing shown with atseit of bumper attachingclips at .one end 'o'f hitch.

- "Figure 4 is aperspective of my boat attaching -Iatch inopehposition-with alload hanger staple -partially engaged by the la'tch inreadinessfor a but -=showing'my latchlock rod in position.

Figure 6 isan elevation of my hitch," the view being one taken forwardlywith my .idraft bars in vertical section and my ,draft bar braces infolded position.

Like parts "are-designated by the same reference characters throughoutthe several views.

My hitch is especially useful whereisuch a trailer load as a rowboat l0supportedupon a single wheel is to be'attache'cl'tothe rear of anffirmly in position upon bumper M.

and forward motion of the automotive vehicle? to which myhitchisattachedl A The =-principal structural elements :o'f :mw'imf provementhitch include' apair 10f bumper clamps N-t2 to afford attachment'iforbeam l-3 be- "hind bumper M or other rearward structural element of anautomotive vehicle. I wo retractible draft'bars and .1 6 and :theirrespective braces ll-l8 are movable to support samba-sue "and 2!] inretracted or extended position as will be hereinafter described.

Each of the brackets H' l2'includes a top plate rand a bottom plate'zfi-spacedapart by'a tubular spacer 21 but snugly-pulled toward oneanother by bolts 28 so that the =bracket is held Bolts 29 through thetubular spacers and through *the plates hold the bracket assemblyrigidly with extending, rearward, hinge mounts 25'and26'. l w

In stout, housing and frame forming'p'osition between the hinge mounts25' I provide beam '13. which is preferably in theiform'of 'anang-le'member, as shown clearly in thedrawings. The beam rests upon forwardends of draftrbars wand i6, which are 'swingable about-draft bolts -39"extending through the draftimountsjthrough the beam [3 and through sidewebs l6 and i6" of thedraft bars-these bars being :preferably *formed;in

channel taperedfshape, as-shown. It will be apparent fromtheidentificationbf the structural elements thus far describedthjat thedraft'bars' t5 and ['6 maybe oscillated about,

their draft 1301135333 'froma retractive position as shown in Fig.2,zfto the extendediposition"shown'in 1. 1

Likewise extendable andretractibleftoTaniiffr'om housed position withinthe angle fof'the :beam 13 .I ,provide braces I'i-l8 j,pivotl y. supportd ,in "brackets 3i and 32 respectively weldedforotherwis'e secured tothe beamas shown most clearly 'in' Fig. 6 where the bracesflare infolded liposition under the beam, As there .sh'own, thefreeehds ofthebraces are bifurcated so that i'whenthey a are swung toextendedposition, as shown most clearlyin Fig. 3, this ffree" end mayembrace web IE or lfi' whieh is perforatedito receive afbrace pin 33,which is .manually insertable through a hole near the end of, thebifurcations automobile or other automotive vehicle, -someif whatvinaccord with the disclosure in @myQU. S. Letters Patent 2,283,648, issuedMay 1-9,.1 942, but

it will .be understood from the followingderscription that my hitchmayrbeusedfor a wide and through the perforated web. It willlbel-no'tedthat the brace pin 33 has an L-shaped'head for purposes, hereinaftertobe described. When the draft 'bars 15-16 and (their respectivebraces11-18 are in extended position with the brace 0 ,pins 3 3 interlockingtheir rearward ends, madn- .tire .draftor towing portion of my hitchisstout- .ly and rigidly extended to receive ther load, ,as

will be now described.

Atthe rearward end of each draft bar is a projecting rod-receiving,hooked latch member proper position to match with holes in the webs ofand reliable hitch.

35 having a slot 36 to receive a U-shaped rodlike tow bar 31, as shownmost clearly in Figs. 1 and 4. At the rearward end of the hook of mylatch member 35 I pivotally mount at 38 a channel shaped latch keeper39, the channel groove of which is wide enough to receive an upwardlyextending and apertured latch keeper lock 40.

With both latch keepers 39 in looking pOsition I provide a latch lockrod M to extend not only 4 to extended position, and latches on thedraft bars positioned to releasably receive a tow when the bars areextended.

2. Ahitch for a vehicle having a bumper horiflzontally disposed acrossthe vehicle and includ- "ing ab'eain to provide a; 'p'rotectd honeparallel V to the bumper spaced apertured swingable draft This latchkeeper lock is insertable throu h-a hole through the latch keeper 39, asshown in Fig bars attached to the beam at spaced points and providedwith apertured braces extending to the through one of the latch locks 40but through both of them, as shown in Fig. 1, with a result that thislatch keeper. lock rod overlaps the heads of the brace pins 33 toprevent their accidental release from brace, holding position;Therefore,

with one locking member I assure the safety of bracing and latch-lockingposition of my hitch devices. At the end of my locking rod 41 I haveinstalled a snap latch 42, as shown clearly in Fig.

5'. This snap lock may be replaced by a padlock if desired.

Assuming that my complete hitch has been in towing relation to arowboat, as shown in Fig. 1, I

release the tow load In by taking out snap lock 42 from its position onthe end of lock rod 41. v Ithen withdraw the rod 4| so as to permitswingand from the Webs of draft bars l5|6, whereupon braces II and [Bmay be swung to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and asshown in full lines in Fig. 6. This clears the way for swinging movementof the draft bars and IE to their retracted positions, as shown in Figs.2 and 3, Where they may be retained by inserted brace 'pins 33 in therespective holes 43 and 44 in beam These holes are inserted in thebeamin the draft bars provided for the reception of the brace pins when myhitch is in extended position. Thus in retracted position, the draftbars holdthe braces and the brace pins hold the draft bars to make asnug fold assembly; From the above description it will be apparent thatI have provided an exceedingly sturdy, safe Obviously a big advantageflows from the'extensibility of my hitch. Many typesof trailable loadsare of such configuration and so diffioultto handle in close proximityto an automobile that the hitch must provide additional space. Yet thehitch must not be bulky, or extend any material distance behind thevehicle when no trailing load is hitched thereto. My retractable hitchfulfills all: requirements in these respects and I 'have found that thefolded draft bars and my beam draft bars provided with attaching meansto connect said bars to a vehicle, a beamextending between the attachingmeans, said bars'being swingable toward each other to retracted positionalong said beam and away from each other respectively. q 3,.In a hitchfor a bars and provided with swingable attachment to the beam; bracepins manually receivable in the apertures to lock the braces to thebars; latcheshaving tow keepers and secured to the draft *bars in towreceiving position when the braces are locked by, said pins, each latchbeing apertured to receive a lock rod in position to lock the latchkeeper in tow holding position; anda .1001; rod receivable in saidapertures and thereby positioned over said brace pins wherebysimultaneously to lock said latch keepers and said pins in tow holdingand in bracing-positions vehicular trailable load, a

- draft bar and beam foldable upon one another and providedwithconnections for attachment to vehicle-and load, a brace ermanentlyswingablyiconnected to one of said 'bar or-beam elements and providedwith means manually connectable to the other in bracing relationshipwhereby to hold the bar and beam at a predetermined angle to oneanother, said brace being positionable swingablyto a position betweenthe beam and bar when they are in folded position.

4. A hitch including spaced swingably mounted draft bars provided withattaching means to connect said bars to a vehicle, a housing-likebeamprovided with spaced pivotal connections toreceive said bars andprovide the swingable ;mountin'g therefor, said bars being swingabletoward each other to retracted position along said beam and away fromeach other to extended position, latches on the draft bars; positionedJoraces being swingable to overlapping position between the draft bars.

5. A hitch, for a vehicle having a,horizontal bumper, said hitchincluding -a housingelike vbeam securedin approximately parallelrelation- .ship to the bumper and,provided with spaced horizontallyswingable draftbars thereon shaped to' complete the housing when thedraft bars are swung to a retracted position, and a bracesecuredswingably to thebeam and adapted for attachment to one ofsaidbars whereby alternatively to be receivable in" the housing orextended diagonally to thedraftbar therefrom.

' RUSSELL H. sAM A L.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 1 file ofthis patent:

' UNITED STATES PATENTS

